I have to bring National Vegetarian Week to a close with my favourite veggie and vegan blogs. Those that will carry on eating veggie and sharing veggie recipes all year long. They are the heroes of this week.

It was so hard to pick a top 10, to be honest top 20 would have been easier. There are so many fab blogs out there. I managed to narrow it down to my top 10. These are the blogs I love to visit, who challenge and inspire me. I don't visit them nearly enough, but when I do, I fall for them all over again.

I've been friends with Johanna for 7 years now. We met through our blogs in 2007 when we were just newbies. We hit it off right away and I've been lucky enough to meet up with Johanna in Edinburgh when she was visiting. Cooper had a rare time with her daughter Sylvia and I got to meet her lovely husband, who is a fellow Scot.

Johanna cooks family food, which is a mixture of vegetarian and vegan. She also gives us lovely glimpses of family life and cafe culture in Melbourne.

I always think of Becca as a new blogger, but she's been writing over at Amuse Your Bouche for 3 years now. I just don't know where they time goes, I remember when her blog appeared as if it was yesterday. Saying that, you just need to visit Becca's blog to see how established and professional she is.

Becca makes the kind of vegetarian food I like. I've never yet seen a dish on her blog that I didn't want to eat. Of course the beautiful photography helps and the fact that she loves cheese as much as I do.

Allotment 2 Kitchen is another blog I've been following for years. Originally Shaheen blogged recipes she created from veg out of her allotment just outside Glasgow. Her allotment was sadly vandalised, but although it shook her, Shaheen kept going, producing gorgeous recipes that make the most of seasonal veg. I am sad to say I never got the chance to meet Shaheen before she moved to Wales where she currently resides.

I can honestly say that Lisa is my best online buddy. We have been friends for years and gone through a lot together. It make us both sad that we live on opposite sides of the world, well really far away anyway.

Lisa's speciality is Indian food. She loves it and does it so well. She likes her food hot and thinks me a wuss for liking my spice milder. For all that, she has a wonderful blog and is a true friend, one who never forgets my birthday. Something I can't lay claim to. Have told you my memory is shocking?

Susan started off as a vegetarian back in 1988, but a few years later made the jump and became vegan. She lives in Mississippi with her teenage daughter and husband. She makes the most amazing vegan food and sinful but sin-free desserts. She is an all round lovely person and I love her blog. Her photographs are beautiful and her recipes inspired.

Kate was born in Canada, but moved to England in her teens. She now lives with her husband and 2 little ones in the Midlands.

Her current obsession (I say that in a nice way) began when she was making her son's first birthday cake. It was to be a chocolate cake, but she wanted to make it healthier, so she made one layer a chocolate and beetroot cake and the other chocolate and butternut squash and so her journey began.

Kate's blog is full of cakes and desserts where vegetables are the star of the show. I admire Kate's skill and imagination so much. A wonderful blog.

Nayna lives in London with her family where she makes really great veggie food. I was lucky enough to meet her last year at Food Blogger Connect and we got on really well. She is such a warm and friendly person and it shines through in her blog too. I'm looking forward to meeting her at the conference again this year. Aren't we lucky to make so many good friends through our blogs? We have such a nice community.

Kellie is from Florida, but she has lived in Edinburgh with her family for years. She isn't a vegan, but most of her recipes are. She's a health educationist and nutrition adviser with the Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres and she really believes that a plant diet is the best diet you can eat to look after your body.

Her photographs are stunning, her food enticing with it's lean towards Cuban and Florida style and she is another lovely blogger. I've had the pleasure to spend time with Kellie at the Scottish Food Blogger Conference in Ayr and last year's Food Blogger Connect. I look forward to meeting her again sometime.

Food to Glow

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To be honest this blog is bathed in secrecy. We know it is a blog about making Franny Craddock's recipes veggie. We know the blogger lives in Edinburgh and is veggie, but that is about it. We don't know if it is a she or he, never mind what their name is. I'm hoping that once they get to know us better they will open up a bit, but until then go visit the blog. It's different, it's veggie and it's amusing.

I love Kaitlin's blog. It's so clean and fresh with the most amazing photos that are sure to make you drool. Kaitlin is really into her veggies and she does such lovely things with them. I want to move in with her so she can feed me. I particularly love her chopped salads and Mexican dishes. Go visit, quickly, now!

Yes this is the first Yogurt Week here in the UK and it just so happens to fall on the same week as Veggie Week, which was set up by The Yogurt Council to celebrate all things yogurt.

There are so many ways you can enjoy yogurt – it's versatile, convenient and a great food staple for all the family. It's such a healthy ingredient and I always have a big tub of Greek
Yogurt and some smaller tubs of flavoured yogurt in my fridge. The Greek
I serve with fruit, in smoothies and in baking.

Today I have made some Choc Chip and Sweet Cherry Yogurt Muffins. They are golden, sweet and delicious, with bites of sweet dark chocolate and tangy hints of cherry.

They are adapted from one of my mum's old handwritten recipes, so it must be pretty old, but I don't know where it came from.

I've found that muffins made with yogurt don't rise as much as those without but as long as you don't over stir the batter, they will be light and fluffy.

Now for some yogurt facts:

Yogurt contains a range of nutrients important in a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

Yogurt is one of the oldest foods developed by man.

Yogurt is believed to have been eaten since 10,000 to 5,000 BC.

It is probable that the earliest yogurt was made by accident in Mesopotamia around 5,000 BC, when milk-producing animals were first domesticated. By 2,000 BC it is estimated that about half of the human population was accustomed to eating dairy products.

May 24, 2014

Mini golden muffins made with Greek yogurt and studded with dark chocolate chips and sweet cherries.

Ingredients

300g self-raising flour

½ baking powder

250g butter

240g Greek yogurt, made up to 250g with milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

100g dried sweet cherries, chopped

100g dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 f/200 c/180 c fan/gas 6.2. In a pan, melt the butter, let it cool a little, then add the yogurt and vanilla extract and mix well.3. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until frothy.4. Whisk the yogurt mixture into the eggs, then fold in the flour, cherries and chocolate chips. Be careful not to over mix as that will make the muffins heavy. Don't worry about lumps.5. Fill a 12 hole muffin tray. Each hole should be three quarter filled. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if they are ready. It should come out clean.6. Leave them to cool for a few minutes in the muffin tray before moving to a cooling rack to continue cooling. Do the same for the second batch.7. Enjoy!

Catch up on my other posts for veggie week and join in the conversation using #veggieweek and @nvw2014

Disclosure: this recipe was commissioned by the Yogurt Council. I was not expected to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.
For further information visit loveyogurt.org and follow @loveyogurtuk on Facebook and Twitter.